Saturday, December 22, 2012

Peace Memorials: New England Peace Pagoda - Leverett, MA

The New England Peace
Pagoda is the first Nipponzan-Myohoji Peace Pagoda to be built in the United
States and was completed in 1986.

Long Description:

The New England Peace
Pagoda is the fhe first Peace Pagoda in the United States. It sits on top of
Cave Hill in Leverett. According to their website "The Pagoda is dedicated to
the realization of universal peace on earth. It is a symbol of light in the
darkness of the present day world, a visible prayer to awaken humankind to
peace." The round stupa has four equidistant niches each of which has Buddhist
shrine and a walkway leading up the the shrine.

A Peace Pagoda is a
Buddhist stupa designed help focus and unite people in their search for world
peace. Most have been built under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii (1885–1985),
a Buddhist monk from Japan and founder of the Nipponzan-Myohoji Buddhist Order.
Fujii was devoted his life to promoting non-violence. In 1947, he began
constructing Peace Pagodas as shrines to World peace.

Nipponzan-Myohoji
Peace Pagodas were first built in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, more than eighty
Peace Pagodas had been built around the world in Europe, Asia, and the United
States.

About Me

My interest in travel and exploration took me to all 50 states, much of Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, as well as some of Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. As I got older my outdoor activities shifted from hiking to orienteering to geocaching to waymarking.